Originally Posted by
neilfein
Welcome, Tom. Looks like a nice bike. It sounds like you're pretty much looking to turn it into a hybrid mountain/road bike. What kind of road riding do you do?
Aluminum frames have a reputation for being a pretty rough ride, so be aware that it won't be as comfortable on ATB/offroad stuff as an actual MTB.
If money is there, you might want to consider buying a used mountain bike - there are an awful lot of used MTBs out there.
You'll have to deal with stem issues as well; a search on the bicycle mechanics forum will doubtless turn up many threads about this.
thanks for the thoughts- I had my dealer check stuff out with Shimano re the deralleur etc and its being done now. I wanted one of those "almost do anything bikes - some road ( by changing tyres) and light off road - bike path/walk tracks with my grandchildren. But I mainly ride tarmac, and charity type rides. At a grandfather's age I don't bounce off rocks very well these days -!!. Cheers